Becks & Dan

Acknowledgement received!

Who would have ever thought that getting the news that our application has been received would be so good!? It's as if every stage in this migration process is a massive hurdle to climb over!

Next, it would normally take 4-5 months for our medicals/police checks to be requested but our agent reckons it'll be more like 8 months! Arghhhhh!

So now we're in it for the long haul... the longest wait of the process so far.

Will we ever hear?

Ohhhhh the waiting is killing me. And we're not even waiting for a yes or no, we're waiting for an acknowledgement!

Starting to panic a little bit now. Have just checked out www.austimeline.com and seen that someone has just had an acknowledgement after 1 month and 10 days so there's hope that it'll happen soon. Argghhhh.

Worried as I will be starting a new job in a month and want the application to go through so that I don't have to get a reference from my new employers the minute I start!

Testing our patience along the way...

Getting permanent residency in one of the best (according to us) countries in the world shouldn't be easy. If we're going to move somewhere it needs to be somewhere that doesn't open every port and airport to the world and says 'come on in, enjoy our country' (sense our frustration with London?).

However, the process so far has been more stressful than we thought it would be and has certainly tested our determination to move to Australia!

Skills Assessment

This was a reasonably easy part and happened in quite a straight forward way. It was a matter of completing an application form, sending off proof of qualifications and a copy of Becks' CV. After a month or so (I forget how long) we heard back saying that Becks had passed the Skills Assessment. Easy peesy.

Getting State Nomination

This is where it got a little trickier...

We applied for state nomination for SA. This involved submitted Becks' CV again, a copy of the Skills Assessment and a questionnaire like form all about how, when, where and why we wanted to live in South Australia.

On one of the forms we completed it asked us how much we would be taking with us, in our currency and AUS$. We were totally honest and put that it would be about £5,000 (we don't have a house to sell!) which works out at approximately $11,000.

A couple of months later we were told by our migration agent that we had been declined sponsorship on the grounds of not having sufficient funds.

Rather than explain it, here is the text from the email our migration agent sent us:

1st email: "I have just heard back from South Australia. Unfortunately your application has been refused on the basis that you had insufficient funds to sustain yourself (and your family) while you re-locate and find suitable employment.

They wrote: "As a guide to the cost of living in SA, DIMIA recommend that a family of three require AUD 930 per week for the first two years of settlement. The cost of living in South Australia while, lower than some other States, You should also be aware that you will not be entitled to Social Security benefits until you have permanently resided in Australia for two years. If she can provide Immigration SA with evidence of funds (banks statements, evidence of ownership of property with evaluation of the property....) we will be happy to reconsider her Sponsorship Application in light of this new information."

So, basically we need more evidence of funds from you. Sorry to be the bearer of bad news, but hopefully we can get some more evidence together and be on the move again."

2nd email (after a few questions!)

"Unfortunately South Australia (and Australia in general) have become a lot stricter with migration recently. While you are certainly employable, they are just wanting to make sure that you are able to support yourself in the unlikely event that you are unable to find work (as you will not have access to public funds). The evidence required would be in the form of bank statements showing more money in both your and Dan's accounts and/or if either of you own property or cars or other assets they would need to be valued and a report/evaluation could be shown as evidence.

You would need to show at least £25,000 between the two of you (going by DIMIA's guide)."

So we looked into all of our options and the long and short of it is that we 'aquired' £20,000 which is now sitting in our bank account. We reapplied and were successful. Our agent reckoned that if we'd have put £25,000 on the form in the first place they probably wouldn't have checked, but they were obviously concerned with the low amount so delved further.

The main application

So the good news came through that we had been sponsored! Hurray!

Now it was time to put together our main application. This involved the biggest amount of paper work yet and consisted of several forms to complete, certificates of Dans qualifications (to prove he can speak English!), other bits and bobs and proof that we are in a defacto relationship!

Our favourite part of the process so far has been putting together a file of proof that we are in a genuine relationship. The guidance is along the lines of having to have been living together for 12 months or more, but due to our haphazard travelling around Australia and Thailand, followed by rentals in London, this took a lot of proving!

The application was sent by Courier to Australia on 27th June 2006, with an aim to make it before the forms and fee change on the 1st July.

After they received the forms it takes about a month for them to acknowledge receipt of them. After a month had passed we chased up our migration agent only to discover that there is a chance that the forms didn't make it in time. This will mean resubmitting using different forms, and paying the (only slightly) higher fee. Another annoying obstacle, which will delay us by a couple of months!

Arghhhhh...

I know, let's emigrate

Ok, so a little history...

In January 2004, Dan jacked in his job to go travelling! He boarded a plan bound for Canada where he spent a month, before heading to New Zealand to spend a couple of months doing every possible extreme sport possible. He always says there must be something they put in the air when you walk through the airport arrivals lounge that turns you into an adrenaline junkie!

Dan left New Zealand in April 2004 and set sail (ok, he flew but sailing sounds more romantic in a Captain Cook kinda way) for Sydney where the bright lights, city living and a certain young lady awaited...

Becky had spent a month in Australia with her best friend Laura during December 2003. She returned home to the UK in January and went back to work, but it was hard to sit at a desk in rainy England knowing this place called Australia existed. So, like Dan (but at the time without knowing it) she jacked it all in, got her Working Holiday Visa and boarded a plane to Sydney!

Arriving in Sydney alone was quite a shock to both Becky and Dan. Dan had been used to the mountains and greenery of New Zealand and being in a large group of people. Becky also arrived in Sydney knowing very few people and had a whole year ahead with nothing planned...

Becky was having a mid-twenties crisis and got a job as a rep on a backpackers pub crawl called Route 69. Dan was having a mid-twenties crisis and went on a backpackers pub crawl called Route 69. And so the story shall begin...

Dan and Becks spent the rest of their year-long visas in Australia together. They lived in Sydney for 9 months (first in Pyrmont, then Balmain) and then moved to Perth, WA. They visited Melbourne (Neighbours, everybody needs good neighbours...), Adelaide (to see Aus v New Zealand at the Adelaide Oval), Canberra and Port Stephens. Becks joined the millions of other backpackers on the East Coast of Queensland and enjoyed Fraser Island, Whitsundays, Magnetic Island, Townsville, Noosa, Cairns and Brisbane. They then moved to Perth where they lived in the seaside neighbourhood of Scarborough. They landed perfect jobs together at the Rottnest Island Authority.

So all in all, a fab time was had... They returned to England in April 2005 and quickly moved to London where they rented a pad and got jobs. Before long, they were starting to miss Australia and the lifestyle it offered. They decided that some day they would go back and spend longer there...

In October 2005 Becks started to contact Migration Agents to look into options for returning. It was with great delight that she discovered her skills as a Community Worker (not a pub crawl rep!) were in demand in South Australia!

They were advised to apply for a State/Territory Nominated Independent visa which will mean they enter South Australia as permanent residents.